The Rumor Mill
by estellainsky
Summary: Spotted: Gossip Girl back with more on Manhattan's elite. The gossip's the same. So are the rumors, the backstabbing, the lies. Except the rumors and lies aren't getting cleared up. And the backstabbing keeps building. And the gossip's not the same. But most importantly, who's gonna be the one to pick up the broken pieces...if everyone's involved?
1. Chapter 1

"_Oh my god, she totally hates me._"

Blair Cornelia Waldorf was convinced that Serena hated her, and there was no getting out of it.

"_Relax_," Chuck Bass told her, reclining his head against his favorite couch in his hotel suite, holding a glass of scotch. "What could you have done wrong anyways, B? Couldn't have been any worse than what you did to me last time."

"I cannot _RELAX_," Blair snapped at him, wadding up the 45th draft of a letter she'd been working on for Serena in frustration. "S is going to _kill me._ You know how she is when she gets mad. What if she replaces me with some random brunette that looks exactly like _Audrey Hepburn_? Oh my god, that'd be like having Audrey wear knockoff Givenchy. Wait, does that mean Serena gets to be _Audrey Hepburn_? _I'm Audrey Hepburn!_"

Chuck shrugged at her indignant monologue. He knew it wasn't a huge exaggeration. Serena once faked sleeping with a stranger she'd met five minutes earlier when she thought Nate had cheated on her, and that hadn't even scratched the surface.

Blair grabbed her red Valentino coat laying on the couch and whirled around towards the door. "I have to make sure she isn't up to anything," she said, a little too desperately for her own taste. "I'll call you later."

"I'll pick you up at 8," Chuck called after her, taking a sip from his glass as he watched her heels clack away from him.

**A/N**: Hi! I know this was really short, but if you liked it, please let me know! (It'll definitely encourage me a lot.) This was an idea conceived way past my bedtime, so I was limited on how long I was able to write, but upcoming chapters should be written during the daytime (hopefully). Also, let me know if you feel like the characterization and dialogue between the characters feels accurate so far. Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

_Spotted: __**B**__ headed to __**S**__'s apartment with a box of Laduree macarons & her heart on her sleeve. But rumor has it that our favorite blonde isn't ready to forgive the Queen Bee yet._

_Careful, __**B**__... You're treading a fine line here. One slip and the balancing act crashes down._

_You know you love me,_

_Gossip Girl_

"I cannot believe I am the one apologizing," Blair muttered exasperatedly. But it was true that she'd been the one in the wrong. Even so, she was usually on the receiving side, not the one giving it.

She knocked on Serena Van der Woodsen's apartment door for the 15th time, but there was no reply. Serena had recently moved out after a fight with Lily Van der Woodsen in to an apartment paid for with her newest job in the fashion industry.

"Serena, it's me. _Blair_," she stressed, emphasizing her own name. Blair Waldorf didn't _wait for people_ or _beg for forgiveness_. But Serena was a rare exception.

"_S_, " she tried again, annoyance starting to creep into her voice. "_S_. If you really don't want to see me, then _fine_! I'll leave. But you better watch your back. I didn't come all the way here for nothing."

Blair was not going to sit around all day being vulnerable to a person who'd made it clear she didn't want to see Blair. If Serena didn't like her even after the moving, 45-minute speech she'd made at the risk of all the people within 3 floors hearing, then maybe Blair didn't want to like her either. After all, nobody ignored Blair for long. She slipped the final draft of the letter she'd written under the door and turned to press the button for the elevator, not looking back even once at the box of macarons she'd left at Serena's door. She was already devising a plan to get back into Serena's life, for good or for bad. The Queen B hated not having her presence felt more than anything else.

_Uh oh. Guess __**B**__'s back on her feet._

Serena lay in bed, her feet dangling over the side of her 1200-thread count sheets as she tried to block out Blair's incessant whining with her pillow. Usually, she'd call Blair back after a day, but this time it'd be different, she promised herself.

"-fine! _fine_! I'll leave. But you better watch your back. I didn't come all the way here for nothing."

There was a scuffling sound as something was slid under the door, and the clicking of Blair's heels grew more distant.

Serena forced herself to stay down for a few minutes for the sake of her dignity in case Blair was listening right outside her door under the pretense of leaving. When she was convinced Blair wouldn't be on the other side of the door, she headed over and picked up the envelope, labeled with nothing but an S written in gold ink.

S,

I've come to the conclusion that you actually don't want to talk to me. Look, Serena, I get it. But please, at least give me a chance to explain. It's not what you think. You know what you mean to me, S. And you also know these words aren't coming easily. Just call me back. Text, email, write, whatever. I'll be waiting.

-B

Serena squinted at the paper incredulously, as if her 20/20 vision was just now failing her and twisting the words on the paper around somehow.

_"What is there to explain when you slept with my boyfriend?"_


End file.
